More neighborhood groups needed, Project ACTION says

Springfield needs to strengthen its neighborhoods as an important step toward fighting the crime and drugs that have a foothold in town, Stephanie Thompson, the co-chairwoman of Project ACTION said Friday.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150725/NEWS02/707259929

Published July 25, 2015 in the Rutland Herald More neighborhood groups needed, Project ACTION says By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — Springfield needs to strengthen its neighborhoods as an important step toward fighting the crime and drugs that have a foothold in town, Stephanie Thompson, the co-chairwoman of Project ACTION said Friday. Thompson said efforts to get a new support group going in the neighborhood where a fatal shooting took place in April have not produced anything so far. Thompson said earlier in the week that she and fellow Select Board member George McNaughton had approached several people in the South Street area about forming a neighborhood alliance, similar to other groups that have popped up around town. Wesley Wing, 37, of Springfield, was shot on South Street April 18, after he confronted a neighborhood woman about drug dealing coming from her home. The woman complained to her boyfriend, Gregory Smith, 30, who is now charged with Wing’s murder. A week after Wing was shot on South Street, a community vigil attracted hundreds of people, and people walked around the neighborhood in a show of solidarity. McNaughton, shortly after he was elected to the Select Board in 2014, started organizing neighborhood alliances. So far there are three or four. The most active appears to be the Union Park Neighborhood Association, and members of the group regularly attend Select Board meetings. They are lobbying for the town to let the group create a community park on a vacant, town-owned lot. Thompson said it was disappointing that no one had been interested in creating a group in the neighborhood, which is near Springfield High School, the Southview housing project and The Maples, a senior housing project. Thompson said it didn’t necessarily have to be a formal group, but neighbors getting together to discuss mutual concerns. She said her neighborhood on Elm Hill doesn’t have an organization, but has a large block party every summer with live music and a cookout. Thompson urged members of Project ACTION’s Community, Housing and Neighborhoods Committee Friday afternoon to look around their own neighborhoods and think about reaching out to neighbors. Lori Claffee, a leader of the Union Park group, said they were having a community barbecue. And the Rev. George Keeler of the North Springfield Baptist Church said he would work on a community group in that village. “Other areas need coaxing,” Thompson said.